Rosenbauer has steadily expanded in the area of preventive fire protection in recent years - not least through the acquisition of G&S Brandschutztechnik AG, based in Mogendorf in the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate in 2016. This is where a state-of-the-art, fully automatic pipe prefabrication plant was recently put into operation.

The plant is fully automated, combines robotics with cutting and welding technology, is extremely flexible, works highly efficiently, and is thus also environmentally friendly. In short: the pipe prefabrication plant is a technical masterpiece. The main beneficiaries are Rosenbauer's customers, according to Ansgar Schmidt, Board Member of G&S Brandschutztechnik AG: "The new plant enables us to fulfill plant orders more quickly and service our customers even more flexibly."

Developed with in-house know-how

The plant was developed with the company's proprietary know-how. This ensured that the company's high quality requirements were met and that the production sequence for stationary fire protection systems was optimized. "We are now in a position to manufacture pipes flexibly and according to demand," enthuses Ansgar Schmidt.

In detail, this is how pipe prefabrication works: The raw material consisting of pipes with diameters from 1"-10" are inserted into the plant in bundles. In the first step, the pipes are separated and shot-peened. Then they are transported to the next station: endless welding. Here, the pipes are joined through MAG welding, after which they are measured and cut to size. "There is almost no scrap or waste with this process, which makes it very resource- and environment-friendly," according to Ansgar Schmidt.

The next step after welding is pipe-end machining, in which a groove is hydraulically and precisely rolled into the pipe. This facilitates the connection of the pipes during assembly. The respective sleeve (from ½" to 4") is then fitted and welded. The pipes are subsequently provided with an ID number for unique allocation during assembly, and in the final step they are forwarded to the discharge storage. After processing in the plant, the pipes are powder-coated by hand according to the customer's color requirements, inspected, and packaged according to the assembly sequence.

Extreme flexibility

The enormous flexibility of the plant is a great advantage in terms of fulfilling individual customer requirements quickly. Almost all changeover work (e.g. to the respective pipe diameter) is carried out quickly and fully automatically by the machine. And the machine's capacity is also remarkable: up to 500 sleeves can be welded per day.

For Rosenbauer, the development and commissioning of this ultra-modern pipe prefabrication plant is about more than just further raising the all-familiar high production standard. "With the investment in Mogendorf and in preventative fire protection, we are also underscoring our committment to this location and this important segment for the company," Hubert Heissl, Managing Director of Rosenbauer Fire Protection points out.

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